My Favorite Must-Have vegan cookbooks...

Ok, so my last blog reviewed Dreena Burton's Eat Drink & Be Vegan as my current FAVORITE vegan cookbook. I figured now would be a good time to mention my previous favorites!

La Dolce Vegan by Sarah Kramer was my first FAVORITE vegan cookbook. In fact, I wanted the cookbook before I even thought about going vegan just for one recipe: Double Chocolate Muffins (pg. 236). My friend, Brandi, made them a couple times and I could never get enough. They were amazing! When I finally did become vegan, I bought this book. I can't remember if it was exactly my first, but it was definitely the first that actually got USED and abused like all good favorites do. I think this is the best cookbook for "beginners" because most of the recipes are very easy with common ingredients and there are TONS of comfort food recipes; a lot using vegan cheeses and mockmeats, which I think are vital to enjoying the first stages of the vegan transition. I have made so many dishes from this book that it would be nearly impossible to record them all. I might as well just say "buy the damn book and try them ALL for yourself!" but I'll at least list the BEST of the best that I've made:
-Freedom French Toast (pg. 37) YES!
-Claire's Macaroni and Cheese (pg. 125) this recipe, along with the cheese sauce alone, has become a staple in my diet. I have made so many delicious recipes based on this one! If you think you can't live without cheese, try this recipe first!
-Jay-Lo's Fried Chicken (pg. 167) Holy crap, can you believe it? This stuff tastes just like chicken strips! It's a little more complicated than buying a frozen veggie patty, but fun to make and well worth the effort!
-Eggplant Parmesan (pg. 145) I used a store-bought marinara. This was YUM!
-Jae's Peanut Butter Fudge (pg. 200) Holy crap, please make this. It is so good I can't even think about it or I will salivate all over myself
-Banana coconut pudding (pg. 206) Easy, yummy.
-Wolffie's B'nanner Bars (pg. 214) Easy, yummy also.
-Wolffie's Snickerdoodles (pg. 215) Cinnamon-sugar-liscious!
-Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies (pg. 218) magical!
-Stephanie's White Diamond Cookies (pg. 223) yes, these are incredible. Get vegan white chocolate chips from www.veganstore.com (my favorite ones), or www.veganessentials.com, or try Sidecar Grocery in the U-District (I saw some there once, but forgot to check back to see if they carry them regularly.)
-Double Chocolate Muffins (pg. 236) I already told you how these tempted me before I was vegan. Make them for yourself, and try a mixture of dark chocolate and vegan white chocolate chips!
-Basic Baking Powder Biscuits (pg. 271) these are so fast and easy and delicious.
-Yeast Free Pizza Crust (pg. 300) very easy and fast. I use this as the crust for all my homemade pizzas. Just top with sauce, toppings of choice (try basil and tomatoes) and vegan cheese. The trick is to get the cheese to melt: I like to cut the cheese into thin, flat square slices (instead of shredding it) and putting globs of it on the pizza. After the rest of the pizza has been cooked through, I like to then set the oven to broil, keep the door slightly open, and let it cook until the cheese gets all melty. Just keep an eye on it so the rest doesn't burn under that broil!

There are so many good recipes in this book, and still a ton that I have yet to try. I recommend this book to anyone with a sweet tooth and a comfort food tooth, especially those new-to-amazingly-delicious-vegan-cuisine peeps!

The other book that changed my life is The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Gourdreau. I got this one for Christmas from my boyfriend and it consumed me from then on! I have a major sweet tooth and LOVE baking. I get no greater pleasure than making something delicious--especially a vegan replica of an old favorite. This book is chock full of baked goods, especially desserts. There are recipes in here that I have yet to find better versions of anywhere else such as: vegan cinnamon rolls! vegan soft pretzels! vegan cheesecake! Caramel Popcorn! Horchata! And those are the ones I haven't tried yet! Here's some that I have made:
-Waffles (pg. 69) this is the only vegan waffle recipe that I have used and it is purely delicious
-Cinnamon Coffee Cake (pg. 84) I made these for Brian, but ended up eating most of it myself
-Vanilla Cupcakes (pg. 85) with Buttercream Frosting (pg. 231) another recipe made for the boyfriend but ended up in my tummy
-Mexican Wedding Cookies (pg. 114) yum!
-Lemon Bars (pg. 126) HOLY CRAP! This recipe (and the yet-to-be-made cinnamon rolls) is what put this book #1 on my Xmas wish list in the first place. Remember those ultra yummy-but-naughty lemon bars you make from a box? I do, and the thought that I could never eat them again nearly gave me a heart attack...then I saw this recipe and I really think my heart stopped for about a minute. And then I MADE THEM and I died. They were that good! Much healthier than that boxed crap, too. These are actually made with REAL LEMONS! Just go to the bookstore, pick up the book, flip it open to page 127, and look at the picture of these babies; you will swoon like it's Johnny Depp naked at your doorstep asking to borrow a cup of sugar.
-Mango with Sticky Rice (pg. 148) I used to get this dessert at my pre-vegan favorite thai restaurant. Magical!
-Baklava (pg. 162) these will make you say Uggh like Master P.

Wow, I get excited just thinking about these recipes.
While these two books, along with ED&BV are my ultamate favorites, there are a couple others worth mentioning (they just don't get abused quite as often as my three must-haves):
-How it all Vegan by Sarah Kramer and Tanya Barnard. Lots of good recipes. Similar style to LDV but not the same recipes.
-Skinny Bitch in the Kitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. I feel like this one should get more use but for some reason, I just haven't gotten around to making many of the recipes. There are more comfort food recipes here than you can shake a stick at; sushi, mac n four cheeses, philly cheesesteak, enchiladas, etc etc etc!
-Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson. I got this one really cheap and Half Price Books and it was well worth it. While it doesn't get much use (sometimes the vast number of recipes in this book feels a little too intimidating) it is a great resource and I am happy to own it.
-Vegan Fusion World Cuisine by Mark Reinfeld and Bo Rinaldi. I've only made a couple of the recipes (maple ginger cookies, cheesecake) but a lot of them look really good. The recipes come from the Blossoming Lotus Restaurant. I've been to the one in Portland, OR (which was delicious...vegan soft serve ice cream!) and there is also one in Hawaii.

My favorite RAW cookbooks are also worth mentioning. Eating more raw foods is something that I find very important. Sometimes I get phases where I make a ton of "Raw Gourmet" meals. When the craving strikes, these are the books I use:
-Natalia Rose's two books, Raw Food Life Force Energy and The Raw Food Detox Diet are the books I use to find the simplest, purest, most cleansing recipes. About half are completely raw, most others are cleansing, vegetarian dishes, and she also includes a few fish recipes and recipes including raw goat cheese. (Read my reviews of these books HERE, for RFLFE, and HERE for TRFDD.)
-Raw Food Real World by Matthew Kenney and Sarma Melgailis is the book I use when I want to make something exciting, unique, and (usually) a little more complicated and fancy. This book has so many delicious recipes and amazing desserts. A must have for the Raw food lover!
-Rawvolution by Matt Amsden. This was my first RAW cookbook and is a steady favorite. I like all of the recipes (except for the soups; I'm very picky about raw soup) that I've tried and always rely on this one if I want something simple. The best recipe from this book is the Creamy Italian Dressing. I have made my own adaptation of this dressing by increasing the amount of basil and oregano, and calling it "Green Sauce." Green Sauce is good on everything from salad, veggies, and pasta to chicken (my Brian's FAVE!) I love the simplicity of these recipes and they taste wonderful.

So there are my FAVES. Here's what's on my wish list:
-Vive Le Vegan and The Everyday Vegan both by Dreena Burton.
-Vegan Express by Nava Atlas
-Get it Ripe by Jae Steele
-Veganomicon, Vegan with a Vengeance, and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, all by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.
-My Sweet Vegan by Hannah Kaminsky
-The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook by Jo Stepaniak
-Sweet Gratitude by Matthew Rogers and Tiziana Alipo Tamborra (raw desserts)

YUM!!!

Eat, Drink, and be Vegan- my new favorite cookbook!

Eat Drink and be Vegan by Dreena Burton is definitely my new favorite cookbook! I actually got it for Christmas 2007 from my boyfriend's sister. I was still new to the vegan lifestyle at that point and was obsessed with dessert and comfort food recipes. I was making AT LEAST ONE dessert recipe each week, and was always experimenting with ways to replicate my old faves into new vegan creations. I was in LOVE with vegan cheese and mockmeats. So when I flipped through ED&BV the first time, I saw recipes that looked delicious but a little too "different." I saw the words "spelt" and "oat flour" and "whole wheat" instead of the usual "unbleached wheat flour" that I was used to. I also noticed that she didn't have as many traditional comfort food recipes or use a lot of margarine, mock meats, or vegan cheeses like most of the cookbooks I was familiar with. At that point in my vegan transition, I wasn't ready for these healthier, purer, more-advanced recipes. So I'm sorry to say that ED&BV got lost on my shelf while I gave my attention to my other books like La Dolce Vegan and The Joy of Vegan Baking.

Now here I am, over a year later, in a much different place as far as my diet and eating desires are concerned. While I still LOVE vegan cheese and mockmeats and go crazy for desserts, I have significantly cut back my consumption of these things. I am no longer in the beginning part of the vegan transition. I am now drawn to simpler ingredients, lighter recipes, more whole grains and less refined and processed products. So, as I flipped through ED&BV recently, I saw it with brand new eyes. These recipes that seems "a little weird" or "too healthy" before are now exciting, amazing, and wonderfully healthy!

This cookbook is full of unique recipes that you won't find in traditional vegan comfort food cookbooks. There's a whole section on different hummus recipes! The breakfast section has recipes for crepes made with spelt flour! The entres include items like enchiladas, chimichangas, pastas, Thai pizza, and Moroccan phylo rolls! In the dessert section you will find white chocolate macadamia cookies, pumpkin cheese pie, and gluten free chocolate chip cookies. There's definitely an ethnic flair to a lot of her recipes and they all seem to be made with health in mind. I am so grateful for this cookbook; it's exactly what I need and want right now. Just go check it out at the bookstore, flip through the recipes, and see if they catch your eye and taste buds. This book is perfect for anyone wanting to transition to a diet containing less refined, processed products and more whole grains, whole wheat/spelt/or gluten free flours, pure sweeteners, and exciting, unique meals. She leaves plenty of notes on the sidelines with suggestions and ways to adjust the recipe to individual taste and needs, which makes me feel very comfortable and well-informed about the best way to make the recipes.

Here are all the recipes I have tried (and they were ALL amazing!)
-Breakfast Crepes (pg.28); I filled these with soy yogurt (dairy yogurt for the non-vegan boyfriend) and applesauce. I made them for dinner and served them with an asian pear, walnut, and raisin salad with raspberry vinaigrette (topped with goat cheese for the bf.)

-Tamari-Roasted Chickpeas (pg.68); I made these with nama shoyu instead of tamari and served them over a salad with cucumber, tomato, carrots, avocado, and a lemon-olive oil dressing. SO GOOD!

-Peanut Banana Tortilla Turnovers (pg. 111); I made these with Molassa-Sauce (pg. 111) to dip, and also dipped them in vanilla yogurt. I served them with the same salad I had made for crepes.

-Lemon Broiled Green Beans (pg. 160) (see picture below); Me and my friend, Robin, made these for our weekly Food/Movie night along with Mac-Oh Geez! from Dreena Burton's recipe blog (be sure to check out that blog along with her eat drink and be vegan blog!) The green beans made a perfect side dish. The recipe is incredibly simple but the result is so flavorful you won't believe it!

-Mac-Oh Geez! (see picture above) is well worth an entire review on its own! I can't recommend this recipe enough. It was so creamy and delicious. While it's not quite the same as traditional mac n cheese, it was definitely a winner in its own right. The flavor of the sauce was similar to an alfredo or Stroganof. We topped our servings with salt and nutritional yeast and ate until we were exploding!

-Another recipe worth mentioning is Tomato Basil Quesadilla (pg. 38); while I didn't actually make this recipe, it did inspire me to create my own. The original recipe uses her Roasted Red Pepper and Almond hummus (pg. 52) recipe with tomato, basil, and tempeh bacon, and filled between a tortilla. From this, I was inspired to make Roasted Red Pepper and Hummus quesadilla. I bought the hummus from PCC and roasted my own red peppers (preheat oven to 400 degrees and place pepper on baking sheet for 35 minutes. Remove from oven when done and then place in covered bowl for 10 minutes. Then remove outer skin and cut into slices.) I spread the hummus on a tortilla, topped one half with 4 red pepper slices, folded the tortilla in half, and then grilled each side on a lightly oiled pan until warm, slightly brown and crispy. I served these with salad topped with the Tamari-Roasted Chickpeas and Trader Joe's Goddess Dressing. SO YUM!

I can't wait to make more recipes from this cookbook. Listing all the ones that sound incredible would take hours! I also have her two other books, Vive Le Vegan and The Everyday Vegan on my Amazon.com wishlist, so hopefully I will get those eventually too!